East Bay

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So Long, Lake Merritt

August 7, 2010 Bay Area

Lake Merritt was the first place I touched soil — or rather, marine sediment –after returning to the Bay Area from Los Angeles. We were perched above Oakland in a hotel room with just a sliver of a view, looking at the lake through what amounted to a castle loophole.

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The Saucy Sailor Boy

May 19, 2010 Bay Area

I have a weakness for bad lyrics, and 18th century sea chanties like The Saucy Sailor Boy probably take the prize. If you live here in San Francisco, you can take the kids (or just your own self) to Hyde Pier for monthly (and free) Sea Chanty Sing-a-Longs. You’ll get hot cider if you bring [...]

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Never Underestimate a Cattail

April 14, 2010 Bay Area

Today, I watched a Marsh Wren collect soft fibers from the head of a cattail — and dive into the abyss of cattail leaves to build up a hidden nest.

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Not the Easter Bunny

April 2, 2010 Mammals

Those ears serve this Black-tailed Jackrabbit well. A jack will usually hear you coming long before you see him. And he can regulate blood flow in these ears to adjust for external temperatures. The Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) — any jackrabbit — is actually a hare, not a rabbit. This particular jackrabbit wasn’t keen on [...]

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Mudbath

March 21, 2010 Bay Area

I’m keen to see eyes peering out of mudflats . . . the creatures from the bog, the foraging carp, the bullfrog in camo, a Pacific chorus frog in a dewdrop. I shot this photo at Blake Garden, just north of Berkeley in the Kensington Hills. My vision is tuned to anomalies and, sure enough, [...]

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Showdown at Berkeley Marina

February 24, 2010 Domestic Animals

“This country ain’t big enough for the two of us. So I’m giving you ’til sundown to get out of town.” ~ The Virginian

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The Great Newt Commute

February 8, 2010 Bay Area

The Great Newt Commute is what happens on the way to the Great Newt Party. From the first winter rains through early spring, California Newts migrate from their summer homes to their winter breeding grounds — to ponds and streams where they mate and lay eggs before trundling back up the hills and into burrows [...]

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The Unheralded Hulet Hornbeck

November 14, 2009 Bay Area

Until this week, I didn’t know how much gratitude I owed Mr. Hulet Hornbeck. The sign below marks the head of a commemorative trail at Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline — a park in the vast and lovely East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). When Hornbeck began his tenure as Chief of Land Acquisition for EBRPD [...]

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The Ghostliness of Black Diamond Mines

October 17, 2009 Bay Area

Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve isn’t haunted, but it’s a park grown upon the ghosts of California’s history. In terms of our earliest history, the spirit of the Ohlone and Miwok people still permeates the land. When I stand on our remaining wild hilltops, I look to the expanse of tract development over what, by [...]

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Where Old Docks Go to Die

October 11, 2009 Bay Area

Old docks smell, this much I can tell you. You’ll catch a whiff of decomposing mussels and sea greens long before you ever see the old boards stacked, as these particular boards were, in the parking lot of the Berkeley Marina. The Marina is renovating — replacing the old A-B-C docks with improved versions. And [...]

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Red-Tail Drifting on Thermals

September 29, 2009 Raptors

A Red-tailed Hawk rises with the thermals on the western slopes of Coyote Hills Regional Park. I snapped this image on the tail end of yesterday’s hike along the marshes and pelican ponds.

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Seeing the Sora

September 28, 2009 Bay Area

You’ll hear Soras more often than you’ll see them. But once in a while you’ll be lucky enough to experience both — when the characteristic Sora call precedes a visual of the Sora wading through the shallows. Soras are in the rail family, not rare, even if they are elusive. They share a lineage with [...]

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Secret Digs of the Great Horned Owl

September 15, 2009 Bay Area

Photos of a Great Horned Owl perched in Strawberry Canyon in Berkeley.

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Visiting Hours Over

August 26, 2009 Bay Area

A male Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) roots around just before dusk at the Nature Center in Tilden Park.

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Squirrel for a Day

August 24, 2009 Mammals

Our latest outing to Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline rendered two contenders for the feature. The first, a perfectly posed ground squirrel who had to assess my safety level before resuming his meal. And second, a squirrel clinging to a fence which begged the question — who’s really on the outside? (He was fine [...]

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Squirrel of the Day – First Edition

July 24, 2009 Birds

Squirrels are so pervasive they’re unexceptional to a lot of photographers. But I have squirrels to thank for not being utterly demoralized. Even when the wildlife shots are fleeting, generally, I can count on a squirrel to give me a good pose.

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The Mud Cracks of Coyote Hills

July 21, 2009 Bay Area

The Mud Cracks of Coyote Hills could be a family of mutants, living under the floor boards. But they’re not. They should be. This would be a better post.

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Return to the Mother Ship

July 18, 2009 Bay Area

This honey bee was one of a stream of honey bees, hypnotized into the maw of this cactus flower.

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Young Fox Squirrels at Play

June 2, 2009 Mammals

Photos of young/juvenile fox squirrels playing in an urban environment, on telephone poles and wires. Also includes images of baby squirrels in the hands of a wildlife rehabilitator.

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Bay Area Goats Fight Fires

May 24, 2009 Bay Area

Photo ©ingrid Well, he’s a yawning goat, I must confess. But the photo begs for an alternate characterization. Who needs Smokey Bear when you’ve got a hungry goat? These animals deserve some atta boys (and girls) for their hard labor in fire prevention. In the Oakland and Berkeley Hills you’ll find agile bucks and does [...]

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